‘They want the bigger fish:’ Lawyer reveals what immunity deals with false electors might signal

ATLANTA — Attorneys for the chair of the Georgia Republican party insist he did not commit any crimes.

Channel 2’s Richard Elliot was inside the State Capitol with how all of this revolves around the so-called false electors and the 2020 election.

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Channel 2 Action News obtained a letter Saturday sent by Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer’s attorneys to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis requesting a face-to-face meeting and laying out why they believe their client broke no laws when he convened the so-called false electors meeting in December 2020.

The letter came just a day after new court filings showed Willis granted immunity deals to eight of those false electors in return for testimony, though it was unclear which of the false electors accepted the deal.

In that letter, Shafer’s attorney lay out in detail why they believe Shafer was only following legal advice when planning and conducting that false electors meeting and had no knowledge of a larger plan to overturn the 2020 election.

They insist the ballots they cast for Donald Trump were only “contingent” ballots needed to keep an elections lawsuit alive.

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“Media reports have suggested that certain high-level members of then President Trump’s legal team (John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani) may have developed ... plans to … attempt to persuade Vice President Pence to count these contingent ballots as the valid electoral votes,” wrote attorneys Holly Pierson and Craig Gillen. “Mr. Shafer was not involved in and had no knowledge of any such plans.”

The January Sixth Congressional Committee maintains the false electors plan in Georgia and elsewhere was part of a larger conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Emory University Law Professor Fred Smith believes this shows that Shafer and his attorneys believe charges are forthcoming.

“It does suggest that David Shafer thinks there’s a serious threat that he will be indicted,” Smith said. “They’re previewing their arguments in the event that, in fact, happens.”

Criminal defense attorney Jessica Cino has experience handling multi-defendant cases. She believes the immunity deals are an attempt to get the false electors to roll on people higher up than them.

“The prosecution is trying to figure out who’s going to roll over first,” Cino said. “The prosecutors have an idea. They have an idea, and they’re thinking about it. They want the bigger fish, so they’re looking to make a deal with someone who’s a little bit lower on the totem pole.”

Neither Shafer nor the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office had any comment about the letter.

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